January 20, 2009 - Tuesday

Isaiah & Dad - taking a break from playing in the snow. Isaiah's eye is looking better .. counting down the days till he's fitted for his prothesis.

Isaiah running in the snow earlier today.

Playing with cars ... his favorite toy.

A bluebird eating berries off our bush and trying to stay warm.


Today was a great day! It snowed last night and into this afternoon in our part of North Carolina, leaving about 4 inches. Highlights of the day was a call from Isaiah's Pediatric Oncologist, feeding a group of Eastern Bluebirds on our porch, playing with cars and in the snow, and cleaning and making dinner.

Isaiah's Oncologist, Dr. B., gave us an initial schedule for Isaiah to start chemotherapy. We'll go up to Duke next Monday and Tuesday (26 & 27 Jan) for Isaiah to have preop and walk us through the chemotherapy regimen. Isaiah will have what is called a port-a-cath put in his chest on Tuesday and have a lumbar puncture AKA spinal tap. The port-a-cath will be connected to his blood stream and be completely under his skin. It gives the doctors and nurses an easy location to administer IV fluids, medicine, and draw blood while greatly reducing the chance of infection and eliminating Isaiah from having to be stuck several times in one visit. The port-a-cath will come out about 4-6 months after chemotherapy is finished. The lumbar puncture will take a small amount of spinal fluid to check for cancer cells. This is because there was cancer present in the optic nerve when Isaiah's bad eye was removed. Because the optic nerve is connected to your brain and central nervous system, checking the spinal fluid for cancer cells will determine if the cancer spread. Dr B. assured us that it was very unlikely for there to be any cancer cells in Isaiah's spinal fluid. God forbid the 'very unlikely' occurs, the chemotherapy regimen will be more aggressive.

Chemotherapy will likely start as early as the first Monday & Tuesday of February (2 & 3 Feb).

Separate from the heartbreaking news above, due to the snow this morning, a group of Eastern Bluebirds tried to keep warm and fed off one of our shrubs near the front porch. Isaiah played with his cars this morning and then watched his Cars movie. Levi is spending the week with Erica's parents. Isaiah is doing good without his big brother, but I can tell he misses him. They've talked on the phone a few times - Isaiah didn't want to put the phone down. Later on in the day Isaiah and I went outside to play in the snow. The little man refused to put gloves on, so our time outside was shorter than I planned. I took a few pictures - you can see that his eye is looking good. There is little to no swelling. Isaiah is completely back to normal. The fact his left eye is missing doesn't look nice, so we've ordered a couple kid styled pirate patches to cover it up until he receives his prosthetic eye in about 8 weeks. The eye patches should get here by the end of the week. For those that may wonder, Isaiah doesn't have to wear a patch to protect it - moreless to protect his self confidence and keep nosey people from looking and asking what is wrong. We only have to apply an anti-biotic ointment to his left eye a few times a day.

Erica is doing great. This C-Section has been the smoothest of the three. She's had no issues with moving around and is still taking it easy. I've taken more of a role of cook and cleaner so she can focus on healing and take care of Sarah. I cooked chicken marsala and spinach/almonds for dinner. Sarah is also doing great. She's quiet, but lets you know when she's hungry. She opens her eyes and looks around at the big world in front of her. Its great to have a daughter finally!

Receiving the news that Isaiah will have to undergo chemotherapy has been the hardest for us to deal with. We've been blessed to have such wonderful family, friends, and neighbors. To all who have sent cards of support, cooked us dinner, prayed for Isaiah and our family, and helped us out, Erica and I greatly appreciate everything you have done. God Bless,

Damon